Friday, March 30, 2012

Wedding Color Palettes

Wedding.

I love seeing fresh color combos for weddings. Let's face it...there were WAY too many years of the chocolate brown paired with anything combo going on in bridal land. So when you see something as light an airy as the Lemon and Mint palette below (from Martha Stewart Weddings), seems so very chic.





What color combos are you loving this year?

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Call Me Cupcake

I love it when I happen on to a great blog with inspirational photos and exquisite recipe ideas. That’s why I consider myself lucky to have found Call Me Cupcake. Check it out.




Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Red Velvet Whoopies

Recipe.

My husband and I recently had friends over to watch some Indiana basketball during March Madness. A little pizza, some snacks, and growlers of beer were the absolute necessities. However, my hubby requested that I make a few things in the colors of Indiana University, Cream and Crimson. So Red Velvet Whoopie Pies seemed like the best fit.


I took my handy copy of the Whoopie Pies cookbook and found a great base recipe that I just tweaked ever so slightly. It was a huge hit. Here's what I did...

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with a Cherry Surprise
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup Crisco
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ oz red food coloring (about ½ a bottle)
1 cup buttermilk (low-fat is fine)
Cream Cheese Icing (recipe below)
1 can cherry pie filling

Position rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, Crisco, and both sugars on low until combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 5 more minutes until fluffy. Lower the speed and add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and food coloring until combined. Then beat all contents on medium for another 30 seconds.

With mixer on low, alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Stop mixing when completely combined, but do not over mix.

Using a spoon, drop tablespoon sized dollops of the batter on the lined baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches from one another. Bake on sheet at a time for 10 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. Allow to sit on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks to cool completely.

After all of the cakes have cooled, pipe a circle of the cream cheese icing on a whoopie pie cake, leaving a little hollow space in the center. Take one or two whole cherries from the pie filling and drop into that hole. Top with another whoopie pie. Repeat with remaining cakes. You will have enough to make approximately 22 – 24 whoopie pies.

Cream Cheese Icing
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3 ½ cups confectioners sugar (16 oz box)
1 tsp vanilla
2-4 Tbsp milk

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed. Add the sugar and beat on low until combined. Add the vanilla and a tablespoon of milk and beat until creamy and smooth for about 4 minutes. Add a tablespoon or two of the milk, if needed, to loosen up the icing enough to pipe and combine on medium.


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Link Love

Tuesday Inspiration.

This is my Future House
This staircase is amazing!!


Spoon Fork Bacon
Nutella is the magic word in this tart.



Make it and Love it
Who knew that a pin cushion could be so cute and multi-task.



Family Circle
These gorgeous aluminum lanterns are pretty easy to make.


Monday, March 26, 2012

Carrot Patch Cookies


Okay everyone…time to get thinking about your Easter weekend plans. I’m still a little up in the air as to what I want to do. The hubby and I would like to take a little vacation somewhere, but airfare has not been working with us on this idea. I have set my fare alerts for the top 3 destinations and maybe just maybe I’ll be hunting Easter eggs in another city.

But when I saw the above carrot patches made with wafer cookies and Mike and Ike’s made into carrots it made me start reconsidering throwing together a little dinner party. I don’t know that I would make these as a dessert, instead I think I would use them to adorn trays of appetizers or maybe as place cards with people’s names on the sides?

What do you think?

Friday, March 23, 2012

Crazy for Quatrefoils

Obviously I become a little restless in the Spring and try to start adding new pieces here and there into my home, party ideas and sometimes even wardrobe. Last week I was checking out feathers but this week the I am lovin’ the Quatrefoils.

If I was being perfectly honest with you…I’ve never even heard this word before. But now that I know it exists…I’m all over it!


Alexandra Side Chair from the Suzanne Kassler collection



CoCo Crazy Pillows


Stella and Dot



VivaTerra Bamboo Patterned Plates